Primary election coming up
June 9 is the date of the primary election. Voters will choose statewide and legislative candidates to be on the November general election ballot, and there are a number of interesting races in the GOP for state Legislative seats, as well as some of the statewide offices.
One of the interesting races is the GOP contest for the state’s lone U.S. House seat — a rematch of the 2024 contest between Julie Fedorchak and Alex Balazs. Balazs was given the party’s convention endorsement during a contentious state party convention in Fargo. After several rounds (including some intentionally spoiled ballots), Fedorchak withdrew from the convention, vowing instead to run in the primary — leaving Balazs as the nominee. This year, Fedorchak skipped the state convention, deciding to go straight to the primary. Balazs won the convention endorsement.
Actually, none of the GOP statewide office holders went to the state convention for endorsement. That caused consternation among the convention-goers, who believed that candidates need to get the convention endorsement to call themselves “Republican” on the primary ballot.
There are also several intra-party challenges to sitting GOP legislators. These will be interesting to watch.
But the primary serves other purposes — it’s for local elections (mayor, city and county government, school boards and the like), as well as some local issues. I’m guessing we may see a higher than usual turnout this year for the primary.
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opening
On July 4, the ribbon will be cut, and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will open in Medora. We’re planning live radio coverage of that event, and will announce more details closer to July 4. And the Library is receiving some national media attention, as well.
I’m reminded of the Library’s ask for some state money, which became an issue in the Legislature. There seemed to be some uncertainty when the bill reached the House. Then, during floor debate, Rep. Bob Martinson (R-Bismarck) stood up and spoke in favor of it. His floor speech contained humor — he talked about talking to his friend “Teddy” about the Library, and how “Teddy” called him “Bobby.” And he made the case for the Library. A number of Legislators told me that Martinson’s speech probably changed the minds of some of the skeptics.
A Capitol makeover
There have been a number of building projects on the state Capitol grounds in Bismarck, including a new State Lab and a new Military Gallery. Those are new projects. But it’s been fun to look at some of the “replacement” projects inside the Capitol building — for example, the state is spending $16 million to replace the steam boilers and the steam lines. The boilers were 43 years old, but the lines were 93 years old. Also, the windows in the building are being replaced. That cost is $5.6 million.
